


The curse of the immortal man

by Akemichan



Category: One Piece
Genre: Gen, Marco!centric, Marco's past, just because, lot of angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-31
Updated: 2016-05-29
Packaged: 2018-05-30 07:17:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,338
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6414205
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Akemichan/pseuds/Akemichan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When everyone around you die, when you could feel their pain but can't die, immortality isn't a bless. It is a curse.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Part One

**Author's Note:**

> After chapter 820 came out, I felt the need to write something about Marco. So I took the chance to put into words some of my headcanon and wrote this two-parts story. It isn't betated, so probably it is full of mistakes. Please forgive me ._. I still hope you can enjoy it.  
> End notes for more.

He still had few memories of his past.

The smell of the old ink while he was drawing his childish maps. His mother's hand in his hair before sleeping. The warm of his little sister's body, as she cuddled next to him in the bed. The dust in the eyes coming off old books. His big sister's laugh, when she managed to win a game. The sweetness of paste in the morning. The hand of his father on his shoulder, when he came to call him because dinner was ready and he had to stop drawing.

They weren't real memories, more flash of his past, but so vivid and colorful they could have happened just few minutes ago, not ten years. Marco could close his eyes and watch them every time he wanted to, to be sure they wouldn't disappeared.

They were something that allowed him to survive without getting crazy.

"And now, the best piece of our collection. Until now, you've seen powerful men and amazing women, strange people for all the world, but none of you have ever seen something like that. Ladies and gentleman, the Highlander. The immortal man."

But when the veil was removed from the birdcage he was in and his upright body was show to the audience, Marco wasn't able to recover that memories anymore.

The light in the stage was so bright, the public ended up  being in the dark, just faded faces looking at him with empty orbits. They gasped seeing him, but then only a low muttering was audible.

And the only memory was the one Marco wouldn't remember. Despite his firm gaze, that faces brought him back at the men who had assaulted his house, in order to steal the few saving his parents had kept to give him an education and a better future. Marco wasn't even sure they had found what they were looking for. He only knew the smell of the blood and the scream ringing in his hears.

"Because, I can assure you, this man can't die. You can try to kill him in every way, but in the end you'll fail."

Even if Marco should have expected what would be next after so many shows, the blow still caught him by surprise, taking away his breath. The spear pierced him from his back, the pointed blade surfacing in the middle of his chest. No blood came off, only a glimpse of blue flames. And when the spear was removed, the glimpse became a small fire until the only hole remained was the one in his shirt.

Even if he could heal himself, Marco still felt every pain. And every time someone hit him, he remembered how it was for his mother, and his father, and his sisters. The way those men had killed them, the way the swords had pierced their bodies. He could felt how their skin had torn off and the anguish of the blade in their bone and their flesh.

And Marco hoped every time it would be the last time. But the blue flames kept coming off, allowing him to survive while everybody else around him bled to death.

"So, anybody would like to try? To defeat the immortal man? You, maybe?"

The whispering of the audience became more and more loud, as they discussed between themselves which one should prove his strength. Until a fat man was pushed by his friend and managed, not with ease, to climb on the stage.

"Oh, here the first challenger!" Mangiafuoco, the head of the circus, nodded at one of his man, who brought a box with a silver pistol inside. Another man took a straw doll and Mangiafuoco shot at it at first, showing the pistol was a real one, before handling it to the man from the audience.

Marco looked at him, bored. The man stood in front of the birdcage; he was sweating and he kept the pistol with both hand to avoid it falling down. Marco couldn't get if the sweat was caused by fear or excitement, even if he never got what was so fun trying to kill a man.

He just knew he could make thing smoothly for everyone, so he put a leg forward, in the small space the cage left him. And the man immediately shot, the bullet hit him right in the chest, not far from the hole the spear had caused few minutes ago.

Marco didn't even faze, he just stood there. Again, He didn't manage to die.

 

***

 

The audience tried everything. Pistols, swords, knife, one of them even choked him. As usual, nothing worked and Mangiafuoco was gloating by the success of the performance and the audience was left speechless.

Marco was panting, because even if the wounds weren't mortal, he could still felt the pain they caused. Usually, Mangiafuoco noticed when he couldn't take anymore and he wasn't willing to risk his precious asset if it wasn't necessary, but this time there was a particular man who wouldn't let it go.

"No way an immortal man exist! Let me in, I will finish him myself."

"Please, sir, the show must go on..."

"Let me in, or I swear this will be your last show."

Mangiafuoco sighed, then nodded at one of his team, who open the door of the birdcage to let the man enter without risking Marco to escape. Not that he have some energy left to run, but better be safe than sorry.

Marco was in the ground and he just shot a bored glare at the man, before he started to kick him in the chest. Marco had no strength to oppose to him, not Mangiafuoco would have allowed him to respond to people's attack. So he laid there, as a doll, as the man kept hitting him. He could feel the ribs broke and pierced his lung, he could feel the blood flew inside him an instant before the blue flames erupted to heal him.

This time, tough, was different. Usually everyone that had tried to kill him in the past had used a single blow, let the wound disappearing completely before going for another shot. But the man, that time, wasn't afraid of the blue flames. He got they didn't burn, so he kept kicking until the injuries were more than the flames.

In that moment, blue exploded on Marco's body. Not only all his skin was covered with them, but his own physical aspect transformed in something else entirely, something even Marco wasn't aware of.

The man freaked out and screamed, so Mangiafuoco was fast to open the door of the cage and dragged him out with an hand on his neck. Then he shut the cage again and wait: when the bright caused by the suddenly flash of flames disappeared, it was clear a giant blue bird was now standing in the middle of the cage.

Marco was the most surprised out there and, somewhat, he managed to come back to his normal body. He realized he had turned into a bird covered by flames, but that made things worse. A bird that couldn't fly was useless. His wounds, though, were healed and even the pain disappeared.

Mangiafuoco was good at improvising. "Have you see that?" he yelled at the audience. "You can't kill him. No matter what you try, a phoenix always resurrects by his own ashes!"

 

***

 

Marco rushed back in his usual cage. It was smaller than the one they used for the shows, but at least it allowed him to stay alone for a while and not be bother by anyone. So he leaned with his back again the bars which faced the deep corner of the pavilion and tried to bring back the breath under control.

But he should have imagined that, after what had happened on the stage, they wouldn't let him rest. As soon as everything was organized back until the next show, Mangiafuoco walked in front of his cage and knelled down to look at him in the face. Marco hold the gaze, trying not to express any emotions.

"So you still has some ace up on your sleeves" he said. His tone was pleased and his lips stretched in a satisfied smirk. "Show me."

"No."

For the first time in ages, Marco could actually decided something by his own. And he felt his transformation was something personal he didn't want to be seen by everyone. That, and the fact he had no idea how to do it.

"I didn't ask for your opinion, brat. Show me."

"No," Marco repeated.

Mangiafuoco sighed, frustrated. "Don't make me waste time. We both know you can't deny me anything."

"Can I?" Marco replied. "And how are you going to force me? Torturing me? Threatening to kill me?"

"Good point." Funny enough, Mangiafuoco was pleased by his answers. Not as much to let it go, of course. "You're right, I can't torture you. But I can torture everyone else." The last sentence was louder, so all the men in the pavilion heard it and turned their heads towards them.

Marco shot a brief glare to the others. He wasn't neither the only freak in the circus, nor the only one hold prisoner. Mangiafuoco got a man with two elbows, a bearded woman, another man who could turn himself into a horse and a fishman. Marco wasn't attach to them, he barely spoke with them, but, watching them, he understood his life could become more and more miserable if he let Mangiafuoco torture them because of his stubbornness.

So he sighed. "I... I don't know how to do it," he admitted.

"What a pity." Mangiafuoco shrugged and moved a leg forwards one of the other cell. The prisoners worried.

"You don't have to do anything!" the man who could turn into an horse yelled. "You can do it just by want to. He's like lift your arm or open your mouth."

Mangiafuoco stopped and turned his head on Marco. Marco sighed. It didn't look so easy, but he forced himself to lift an arm and try. At first, nothing happened, but then Marco let his body relaxing. He didn't feel as he could order his body to transform, but then he simply did it.

The bone of his arm turned lighter, and some other bones grow to sustain the feathers of the wing that surfaced from his now stretched skin. From there, it was a lot more easier turn his entire body. The neck stretched, the mouth hardened in a beak, his entire skin covered by plumage, his foot bend in claws.

He remained still, squatted, the head just a little lifted towards his captors. The light made the other men of the circus to come closer and watch in awe. Mangiafuoco licked his lips, his eyes fixed on Marco.

"It is gorgeous," he murmured. He knelled down again and put his hands in the cage. He grabbed one of Marco's wing and opened it, letting the finger run into the feather and testing the strength of the bones.

"It really is," one of the others added. "The feathers... they look like flames."

"You're not mistake here" Mangiafuoco said. He gripped Marco's neck and forced him to open the beak. "They _are_ flames, the same it uses to heal itself."

"Just like a phoenix."

Finally, Mangiafuoco released him and Marco felt safe enough to turn back in his human form and leapt back as much as the cage allowed him. Mangiafuoco's eyes had malice in them and he was smiling dangerous. It could only bring more pain for him.

"Do you realize how much worthy this could be?" Mangiafuoco said to his men. "Try to kill the immortal is a show we could only use with a particular kind of audience, but with this bird... We could go everywhere."

The others realized what he was saying. Soon, they all proposed new trick, louder and louder. Marco found difficult follow their thoughts, but he forced himself to understand what was in store for him.

"If we just put him in a cage in the middle of the town..."

"Yes! A bird with flame feathers! We could lure everyone, child especially!"

"Do you really want to waste it for everyone, even the one that cannot pay us? No, no!"

"I agree. You want to see it? Then pay!"

"We also could improve the normal show. What about the amazing phoenix that resurrects in fire?"

"Do you want to set it in fire?"

"Well, it's not it can die, can't it?"

"No... But we never try with fire... what if..."

Mangiafuoco was silent for a while, listening his minions' proposals, but at the last one he took one of the torch who lighted the pavilion. Marco shoved himself more inside the cage, but he could escape when the torch was pressed against his chest.

"Then let's try it."

 

***

 

Marco was half asleep when he heard some whispering around him. Then, not moving by his lay position, he opened one eyed to check the situation.

The day before was the last night of shows in the city, so Mangiafuoco and the other free men got a free night to enjoy themselves and spent the money they had gained in the week, before moving to another city or island.

In the pavilion where the freaks were kept only one man was left on guard. He had eaten and drank so much to celebrate, even if he should have work, he ended up asleep, head rested on the table. The keys of the cage were hung on his belt.

The man with two elbows was trying to reach them, his long arms stretched as much as he could outside his cage, while the others prisoner cheered him up.

"It's too far..." he murmured, his breath short because of his efforts. "I'm not..."

"I'll give you an hand." The man who could turn himself in an horse let his legs became hoofs and then gave the other man's cage a strong kick, to move it forward.

But the brute force was too much, and the hand that was reaching for the keys grabbed instead the guard's leg, pulled him out of the chair he was sitting on along with the table and everything was on it. The bottle of alcohol crashed on the ground, spilled the liquid around. The oil lamp fell near it and immediately the area caught fire.

"Look what you did!"

"It was your fault!"

"Oh my, someone wake him up or we will die!"

But the guard was already awaken, only too drunk to be really helpful. He blinked at the fire who was spreading around with empty eyes, but as the first flames reached his foot, he screamed in horror. He jumped up and leaped for the exit.

"No! The key! Leave us the key!"

"Or at least called for help!"

The entire commotion got Marco's attention, but for different reasons from the other. He sat down in his cell, his eyes focused on the fire who was expanding. The flames brushed the pavilion and Marco knew it was just a matter of time before everything would turned into ashes. The smoke filled the air and the scream of the others lowered, too much busy holding their breathes.

Marco wasn't scary, he could survive a fire. Mangiafuoco and his little shows about the phoenix had made it very clear. So he just sat there, waiting for the fire to come close to him and melt the bars. Then Marco leaped forward before the cage was totally destroyed, ignoring the iron drops that fell on his body and then moved for the exit. His body covered itself with blue flames while he passed through  the red fire like it was nothing.

Before he even noticed, the pavilion was behind him and he was outside, feeling the fresh air and the coldness of the night.

He heard someone scream and realized the fire was finally discovered and they came to extinguish it, even if the pavilion was already lost. At least they could avoid the fire spread to the other ones. None of them notice him in the dark, they were too focused on the red light in front of them.

So Marco turned his back at the circus and started walked. He had no idea where to go, but he only knew he should be far when Mangiafuoco would come back. So he kept moving on, following the first street he spotted in the dark, but be careful to stay on the side, ready to run in the forest if someone would approach him.

He walked until the dawn, then he felt enough safe. He saw a farm on the street, the windows still close and the laundry hang in the portico in front of the house. After stolen a shirt and pants to cover himself, he searched for the stable and hid inside, laying down a stack of straw.

He let himself sleep, because he knew he would wake up as soon as he would heard a rumors, even a soft one. And so he woke up at the sound of someone who knocked the door of the house.

With caution, Marco leaned his head outside the stable. Two policeman were in front of the door, waiting for it to be opened. And then a woman appeared on the doorstep. At first she seemed annoyed, but her face softened as she saw the police.

"Yes?" she asked.

"We're sorry to bother you, madame," one of them said. "But we're looking for someone and maybe you saw him." Marco couldn't see what was in the paper he lift to show the woman, but he had a negative feeling about that.

The woman looked at the paper, but then shook his head. "Never seen him."

"You husband, or maybe someone else in the house could have?" the policeman asked.

"I can ask him," she said, and moved aside to let the two men entered in the house.

Marco let his hideout and went near the house. The woman was opening the windows, so he spattered himself on the wall so she couldn't spot him. From that position, he could barely hear what they were saying.

"Oh, we know that circus. We saw one of the first shows." The man's tone was sad. "Did the fire destroy everything?"

"No, luckily it was stopped and only one of the pavilions was lost, even if there was some victims," the policeman answered.

"God" the woman gasped. "Those poor souls... and it was all that boy's fault? How could he?"

"We don't know. Mister Mangiafuoco, I mean, the owner of the circus, explained to us he is a sad, disturbed kid. Maybe he didn't even realize what he was doing. But it's better for everyone if we catch him before he could cause other damages."

Marco heard enough. Slowly, he let the portico of the farm and turned around the stable, facing the countryside.

Sure Mangiafuoco knew he could survive the fire. And maybe he counted the dead bodies just to be sure. Maybe he was really convinced all the fire was Marco's fault, or maybe he just lied to use the police to catch him again. Either way, it didn't matter.

Marco turned himself into his bird form. He needed to fly away, far away. And try to be free.

 


	2. Second part

Despite the festival, there was no circus in the town. Years passed, but Marco made sure every time his and Mangiafuoco's road never met. The last time he saw him was before the fire that had made him free and he preferred keeping things that way.

There was, though, some street artists: mime actors, jugglers, magicians. For a second, Marco's mind played with the idea to use his power to earn some money, since he was hungry. But he dismissed it soon enough: letting so many people see his secret was too risky, plus he didn't want to be seen as a freak anymore.

So he got one choice, and only one: steal.

He observed the surrounding, until his gaze reached a man with frill clothes.  He was alone and, in the back pocket of his pants, there was a big wallet so full of coins it looked ready to explode. Marco could have dumped on the man and grabbed the wallet very easly, before escaping in the crowd.

"Nah, that's not a good idea."

Marco blinked and took few seconds to realize the sentence was actually referred at him and it wasn't his imagination.

He turned his head. There was a young man with a huge pompadour and an amused smile on his face. He was eating a cream puff pastry and cream was around his mouth and in his hand. With him there was a big man with a grumpy face.

"That wallet is too full, he'll notice its missing immediately" the man continued. "The best way of action is for people to notice hours after, so they won't come after you because they have no idea when the theft happen."

"What?"

Marco wasn't as cool as he pretended to be, seeing they had read his intention so accurately. But he didn't know them and he had no intention to show any weakness in front of strangers.

"Com'on, buddy. We recognize a fellow thief when we see one. Right, Jozu?" And he patted the back of his friend, who smiled, softening his expression.

"Yeah."

"Even if right now we're no more in that business... We're in something a lot more profitable."

And Jozu chuckled at that sentence, as if he knew the real meaning behind that words.

Marco shrugged. "You got all this wrong" he commented.

No way he would involved himself with those two guys. After his escape from the circus, he decided two things for his future life: never letting someone use him or his power and never getting attached to anyone. That went even for casual acquaintance. He worked better alone.

A yell in the crown got everyone attention. "There! I've spotted him!"

Marco gasped. Even if he had traveled so far from Mangiafuoco's island and even if the bounty the fire had him earned wasn't so big to actually interest bounty hunters, the fear to be hunted down have never left him. It took a while to realize the group of marines making their way through the crowd wasn't looking for him.

"Ops. Jozu, this is all your fault because you're too big." The man put all the pantry in his mouth and swallowed it, then cleaned his fingers by licking them. "Better run now." He jumped on Jozu's shoulder, before he started moving. He was surprisingly fast for such a big man.

They disappeared in one of the small alleys of the town and Marco watched in awe the group of marine pursuing them as they passed in front of him. They ignored him, but the fear didn't disappeared. What if someone had seen Marco talking with the other two and started ask around or investigate about it? Marco needed to leave as soon as possible.

He took another route, towards the harbor. Once there, he could have flown and nobody could have followed him until it would have been too late.

 

 

***

 

"Here they are."

Commodore Curzola had the entire harbor surrounded by his ships and he was waiting for the pirates to try to escape so he could catch them. His superior didn't get why he was so adamant in arresting a crew with only four elements that, right now, didn't do anything so scary to be considered such a big treat, but Curzola trusted his instinct more than anything.

And his instinct told him to stop them before they would become dangerous.

In the town they had spotted only two of them, the ones they forced to run to the harbor, but it was enough. After their capture, the captain and the last member would have come to free them, and Curzola had already a trap set for them. They also had blocked their ship, so they wouldn't have a place to hide.

"Soldiers, get ready, they're coming" he ordered, his eyes still fixated on the place of the harbor. "And then..." He stopped. The pirates he was looking for were coming from one of the alleys, but another man was running from the other side.

From that distance, Curzola couldn't see if they communicated in any way, but he found suspicious they were running at the same time, even if from different road. And his instinct rose when the man turned himself in a blue bird and flew in the air.

"Sengoku" Curzola called. "Stop him."

"Why?" Sengoku took a step forward.

"I suspect he could be a new adding in the Whitebeard's crew. And we need to stop them, all of them, today."

"We don't know for sure. We could hurt an innocent."

"Yeah, like the last time we waited and Diamond Jozu decimated our soldiers!" Curzola interrupted him. "I prefer killing an innocent than risking for such dangerous pirates to go away. Stop him" he ordered again, and Sengoku sighed.

But he obeyed.

 

***

 

Marco was annoyed seeing the two man running in his same direction, so he had to turn into his bird form earlier than he imagined. He heard clearly their gasps, but ignored them, focusing himself to get higher, higher than the marine fleet he saw in front of him.

And he was about to surpassed them, when he noticed a golden man in one of the deck of the ships. He became bigger and bigger, so big he reached him in the sky. The surprise was so strong Marco was slow to fly away and the man's movements were pretty fast despite his gigantic body.

He smashed Marco with his palm as he was a fly. It didn't hurt much as Marco expected, more because of his regenerative powers, but the hit throw him in the air with a force he couldn't stop. Marco's back impacted with the surface of the sea and he screamed in pain, before starting drown and turn back to his human form.

Marco was never able to swim, nor even as child, but the feeling was different. Water made him so weak he couldn't even move his arms to cover his mouth and nose. He felt blocked, prisoner, and that feeling alone terrorize him enough to not even try a move. He just watched at the water mass above him, who made the moon splitting into a lot of different pieces.

And while the water entered in his lungs, suffocating him, the only thought was: so even phoenix could die.

When he woke up, the sun was high in the sky and caressed his skin. Marco blinked and looked around. He was on the deck of a small ship and in the horizon could be see only the blue of the ocean. His clothes were dry, but he still could felt the salt of the sea water on them and on his skin.

He didn't know what happen to him, but there was no doubt in his mind someone saved him. And he had no idea if he could be happy about it.

"So you're finally awaken, son."

Marco turned his head at the voice and saw the most gigantic man he have ever seen. Jozu was big, but for an average man. That one looked just colossal. He didn't mind Marco's surprise look as he sat down in the giant chair next the mast of the ship.

"Where I am?" Marco asked.

He stood still and he moved a little near the railing, not turning his back at the man.

"In our ship, the _Pequom_ " the man said. "Thatch saved you back then. I'm sorry you got involved in this."

Marco was looking around and he soon spotted the jolly roger who stood up at the top of the mast. He didn't have an opinion on pirates, but in his mind they wouldn't be very different from the men that had assaulted his family.

"What do you want from me?"

"Nothing. We escaped from the marine, so we brought you with us."

"So I can leave" Marco stated.

"Well, I can't say when we'll reach the next island..."

Marco couldn't wait. He took a deep breath and, without took off his eyes from the man, he turned himself in his bird form. Usually he wouldn't have showed it so easily, but since they had saved him it meant they had already seen it. He flew with his eyes fixed on the ship - it wouldn't risk anymore what happen with the giant golden man.

Only when he felt enough safe, he flew away.

But he realized soon enough he couldn't actually go anywhere. When he flew from island to island, he knew the direction he had to take and how much time it would take. In this case, he was hungry since he didn't eat since the day before and, most important, he had no idea where he was.

Around the _Pequom_ there was only the ocean, no sign who could permit him to find a direction. And even if Marco remembered the maps around the last island, he couldn't know which route the ship had taken. So he could keep flying hoping to take the right direction for the next island, or go back to the _Pequom_.

And since Marco was a prudent man, he went back. He landed to the deck and glared at the gigantic man in the chair.

"I can't go anywhere" he announced. "But you already knew, right?"

At least, Mangiafuoco hadn't pretend Marco was free. No, Marco had known very well he was owned. So he liked even less people who tried to trick him. But the man just shrugged, not impressed.

"Oh, you're awake! You slept all night, you know?" The pompadour man came out from the lower deck and, as soon as he spotted him, he smiled. "Lunch is ready" he announced.

Then, both him and the gigantic man entered in the lower deck without a second look at Marco, who stared and thought about what to do. It was like they expected him to follow them, as if they hadn't to order him anything because he would do anyway what they wanted him to do, since he didn't have a choice.

So, Marco's first reaction was to stay on the deck and ignore them, but he was too hungry and a nice smell came out from the open door. In the end, he convinced himself he should eat because he needed strength to escape.

When he reached the pantry, the others were already sitting at the table. They where only four, including the three Marco met before, plus another big man with a cigar between his lips. When the pompadour man saw him, he patted the chair next to him to show Marco he could sit down. Then he didn't wait for him, but served the hot soup in the bowl.

"Are you okay?" Jozu asked, as Marco sat down.

Marco nodded, but he didn't add anything and directed his attention to the bowl. Carefully, he took the spoon and tried the soup with the tongue. It tasted good, so he put the spoon in the mouth, before realizing everyone was staring at him.

"Well? What are you looking for?"

The pompadour man laughed. "God, you're so grumpy. Relax." And patted Marco's back as if they knew each other for ages. That made Marco really uncomfortable.

"Why should I? I don't trust kidnappers."

"Kidnappers?" The pompadour man looked outrageous. "I saved your life!"

"I never asked you."

"God, you're impossible!"

The gigantic man laughed at their discussion. His voice was so loud the entire table tremble, so all the other leaned their hands to keep their bowls.

"Tell me, son, why should we kidnap you?" he asked. "For what I've seen, you got nothing we could be interesting in."

Marco shot him a sarcastic look. "Please. You know what I can do."

"Oh, I get it!" The pompadour man clapped his hands together, amused. "You think you're so special, don't you? Jozu, show him." And he nodded at the other sitting in front of him.

Jozu obeyed, with a spark in his eyes. He put one of his big arm on the table and, in front of Marco's wide eyes, he turned it in diamond.

"Mine's a paramisha" Jozu said, before his arm returned normal. "I suppose you ate a Zoan, right?"

"Zoan? Ate?" Marco repeated.

"I'm not surprising you don't know" the enormous man commented. "Devil's fruits aren't common and people eat them without even know. Well, it happened to us too."

"Devil's fruit?"

The enormous man nodded. "They are cursed fruit. If one eats them, he gains a special power, but loses the ability to swim" he explained. "I ate one too, and I'm pretty sure the marine who attacked you also did."

Marco didn't say anything. His memories of his childhood were now so blurry he couldn't manage to find the exact moment he had eaten a special fruit. Plus he had found about his power in a particular situation, so who knows. But he and his sisters used to steal fruits from the neighbors, so yeah, it was entirely possible than one of those were the coursed one.

Devil's fruit... For many years he thought about his powers as a curse, so the name was accurate.

"Okay, let's start again" the pompadour man proposed. "I'm Thatch, the chef, you already met Jozu and this is Fossa, our carpenter." The man with the cigar nodded. "And this is our captain, Edward Newgate. We're the Whitebeard Pirates."

Marco looked at Newgate: he had no beard at all and the long hair below his bandana were blonde. "Where the hell that name came off?"

Thatch burst out with laughers and Edward rolled his eyes, showing how much annoyed was by that.

"We were fighting with a man with bubble powers" Fossa explained, amused. "Boss ended up covered by bubbles and the marine took the picture for the bounty poster in that moment, making him looked as if he had a very long white beard."

"We decided we like it" Thatch added. "Boss, but you really should grow a bear now."

"No way" Edward replied. "I could mustaches, though, just to spit on them."

The entire story was so funny, Marco himself couldn't held a smile.

"Ah, you laughed! I saw you!" exclaimed Thatch, and immediately Marco became serious again, making everyone else laugh at him. He just pretended to be annoyed at them.

He turned his attention at Fossa. "Could I ask you to stop smoking?"

The smell of the cigar remember him too much the smoke of the fire Mangiafuoco used on him for his show. He was about to explain it, but Fossa pressed the cigar in the ashtray without a second though and nobody seemed fazed by it.

"I'm Marco" he said then, realizing he was the only one not introducing himself. "I... Thank you for the meal." He couldn't be grateful for still be alive. "I must leave, so... which one is the navigator? I can fly to the next island if I know where it is." Nobody answered and, for a second, Marco thought he was wrong in trusting them, until he realized the truth. "You... don't have a navigator?"

"Don't judge us, brat" Newgate said and he looked unhappy. "I navigated before you were born, I know how to do it."

"Okay." Marco was sure they had no idea and he became cocky about it. "Where are we now? Where are we heading?"

"Somewhere" was the answer, which made Marco rolled his eyes.

"You could be our navigator" Thatch proposed, but Marco shook his head. Yes, they were funny and they seemed nice, but he wouldn't break his rules for them. Not getting attached to anyone.

Everybody died.

"But at least I can show you the way to the nearest island, if you have a maps and a compass." The tone indicated Marco had doubt about that.

"Aren't you a cocky brat." Newgate was pleased. "I'll show you."

But he never got the chance to do so, because they heard the rumor of an explosion outside and then the entire ship trembled and bended, so everything on the table fell on the ground.

"They're bombing us!" Fossa exclaimed. "I swear, if you let them damage the _Pequom_ I won't forgive you."

Even Thatch was angry, seeing his precious soup in the ground. "Food shouldn't be wasted" he commented, reaching for a knife.

They hurried to the deck of the ship and Marco followed them because he didn't know what to do. There was a marine vessel next to them, the rostrum pierced the side so the two ships couldn't get apart. Edward threw one of his shake, to ward off the soldier who were tried to jump on the _Pequom_. Then he remained on the deck, while the others dashed to the marine ship to fight with them.

Until that moment, Marco avoided fights. He couldn't be hurt, so he didn't care if people hit him or not, but he didn't want them to find out about his powers, so he preferred to run. In that case, the others were fighting and the terror of his childhood was back. The way everyone else around him had died just because they weren't cursed.

And Marco understood why they fought, they should defend their ship and their freedom, but at the same time his brain was screaming them to run and save themselves. It was the reason why he jumped as soon as he saw a soldier aimed at Thatch with his sword. He anticipated Fossa, who was about to hit him, and let the sword pierced him.

"God..." Thath looked at him with wide eyes.

"Came back. Now" Edward ordered. There was anger in his voice, but he kept it under control.

Jozu rushed and grabbed Marco by the waist, putting him in his shoulder, then joined the other two on the _Pequom_ 's deck. As soon as they were safe on board, Edward threw another of his earthquake at the marine ship. This time the shake was bigger and the wood of the ship broke and crumbled on itself, until everything and everyone fell in the ocean and were sucked by the deep of the ocean.

"God, we need a doctor. Why we don't have a doctor?" Thatch was freaking out and shaking Marco by the shoulder, until Marco got annoyed and pushed him away.

"I'm fine" he exclaimed. He took a step to get away from him and, with the hand behind his back, reached the hilt of the sword and extracted it from his body. While the blade passed through his body, the blue flames erupted from his skin and healed him. "See? I can't get killed and I don't need a doctor."

The others were watching him, blinking.

"Why are you so surprised? It's the Devil's fruit, isn't it?"

"I thought Zoan could only transform in animals" Fossa murmured, after a while. "But having such power..."

"Maybe it's because I'm a phoenix? Phoenix can't die." Marco's tone was frustrated, as if he was angry at them because he had to show it. He had to use it to save one of them.

He didn't see the slap coming, but sure he felt it despite his healing power, since Edward's hand was big and strong. He covered his cheek with his hand and looked at him, perplex. Edward was almost trembling.

"Don't ever do it again... at least not without warning us before. You gave us an heart attack."

And Marco, keeping his look on him, could only answer: "Sorry."

 

***

 

"Dinner is ready."

Marco flinched at the gentle hand of Edward on his shoulder.

After he had sat down at the writing desk, he lost himself. Edward had showed him the future-navigator-of-the-crew's studio, Marco had come back to the time when his dreams weren't shattered. A time when he used to draw maps all day, with the old ink his father had managed to recover for him. After the assault and after Mangiafuoco, Marco had lost interest in everything, but it was just a lie. His passion had come back in the instant his foot had entered in the room.

Just to understand where we were heading, he had said to himself. Just to see the next destination before leaving. And he ended up spending the entire afternoon there, reading all books he could managed and studying the maps of the area.

"I'm coming" he said, with a last look at the maps he was drawing.

"So, we know our destination now?" Edward asked him, while they walked in the hallway towards the pantry.

Marco nodded. "Yes. We'll reach it in few days..." He stopped and frowned at the confusion he heard. "What's that?"

"Fossa is re-arranging our bedroom to added a bed for you. Well, actually is an hammer but we adapt ourselves."

"A hammer is fine" Marco said, since he was used to sleep everywhere. "But he shouldn't have. I'm not going stay here."

Newgate didn't reply and Marco asked himself if he was okay with him leaving or he just didn't believe him.

But Marco couldn't stay. He liked them, he really did. For the first time in years he found comfortable with someone. And that was the reason why he should leave: he couldn't afford losing again someone he liked.

He hid his thoughts and, at least, enjoyed the time until it lasted. Sure, now that he had a map he could fly away, but somehow he restrained himself. Three or four days more couldn't arm, couldn't they? Just, not the entire life. But despite the comfort of the hammer, he couldn't sleep so he went on the deck.

Maybe it would be better to leave before getting too much attached. He felt like he was already too late, but maybe he still had a way out. Leaving in the middle of the night, where everyone else was sleeping...

"Are you leaving, son?"

Edward was sitting in his giant chair and he was almost invisible in the dark, so Marco hadn't spotted him before. Marco walked near him and nodded.

"I have to."

"Why?"

Speaking about it made it more real. But his fear were _real_ , giving how much paralyzed he was during the battle against the marine. "I can't die" Marco explained. "It's hard to me survive when everyone else around me could die. Especially... people I care about" he admitted.

"Look what a cocky brat you are!" Edward laughed. "Did you notice you were the only one who got hit today? We're strong enough to defend ourselves without your help."

"But..."

"I'm scared about losing people I care too" Edward continued. "And I already lost someone. But I still want to live. I know it's risky, I know it's dangerous, but I can't help. This life made my happy and I'm not gonna let fear stop me. And I found out that the best way is to become so strong I can protect everyone."

"I can't become stronger." Marco shrugged. "I can just heal."

"You can't... or you don't have a reason to try until now?" Edward looked at him and they both knew there was no need to answer. "Go sleep, son. You need to rest."

Marco sighed, but he couldn't help but obeyed. Because no matter how much he understood his errors, after so many years of loneliness he didn't want to leave the _Pequom_. Not that he'd like to show it to Edward so soon.

"As you said, pops."

Marco meant it as a tease, but, as he turned back to the bedroom, he heard Edward laughing.

"Pops? I liked it!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the second part! Yes, my headcanon is Marco not being the first one to join, just the most affectionate put there :)  
> Just a little bit of dictionary... Curzola is the name of the battle where Marco Polo was arrested, while the Pequom is the name of the ship that pursued Moby Dick in the book. I think they fit in the story.

**Author's Note:**

> So...  
> "Mangiafuoco" came from "Pinocchio": it is a suited name for the owner of such a deadful circus. And giving Celestial Dragons made Hancock and her sisters eat devil's fruit just for their fun, I expect bad people to enjoy the same thing.  
> Marco, in Oda's drawning, looked poor, but since he could have paper and ink, I immage him with a family of his own. And since his name came from Marco Polo, I want him to dream about exploration and adventures. Well, before everything happen XD But I prefer to leave all his childhood in his memory instead to describe it. I found a lot more scary learning detailes only from Marco's though instead of just explain everything to readers.  
> Here Marco is about sixteen.  
> See you in the next chapter.


End file.
